The region of Normandy is commemorating the 70th anniversary of D-Day in 2014 with a rich and unprecedented program of cultural events and festivities. This anniversary is particularly symbolic as 2014 will likely be the last decennial anniversary to take place in the presence of actors in and witnesses to those momentous events. The greatest amphibious landing in military history, D-Day sparked the 77-day long Battle of Normandy that eventually led to the liberation of Paris in August, 1944 and the rest of Europe in May of 1945.

With festivities year-round, the annual D-Day festival will take place from June 5 to August 21, 2014. The official international ceremony celebrating this major anniversary will take place on Sword Beach and will be attended by President Barack Obama, Queen Elizabeth, French President François Hollande and other Allied Heads of State on June 6. Sites, museums, places of remembrance, exhibitions, festivals, shows and entertainment can be enjoyed throughout the year. Most notably, there will be a Giant Picnic on Omaha Beach on June 7 which attracts 1,500 people per year of all nationalities as well as synchronized fireworks in 24 key sites of the Landing Beaches from June 1 to June 9.

In 2013, the Overlord Museum opened in the town of Colleville-sur-Mer, dedicated to Operation Overlord which began D-Day on June 6 and the Battle of Normandy. The museum boasts a unique and exceptional collection of over 10,000 objects and documents found on Norman soil carefully gathered over more than 40 years by a first-hand witness of the conflict. The IMAX film entitled “D-Day Normandy 1944,” which will be released in spring 2014 and screened throughout the year in France. The film will be shown on June 6th at the Zenith cinema in Caen.